March 3, 2015 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Linda McPhail, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Carol Day
Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Councillor Bill McNulty

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Tuesday, February 17, 2015, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

1.

Housing Agreement Bylaw No. 9102 to Permit the City of Richmond to Secure Affordable Housing Units located at 6511 Buswell Street (Majorca International Investment Ltd.)
(File Ref. No. 08-4057-01; 12-8060-20-009102) (REDMS No. 4134610)

A revised Page 3 of the staff report titled, “Housing Agreement Bylaw No. 9102 to Permit the City of Richmond to Secure Affordable Housing Units Located at 6511 Buswell Street (Majorca International Investment Ltd.)”, dated January 30, 2015, from the General Manager, Community Services (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 1) was distributed on table as the number of secured affordable housing units was amended from seven to five.

It was moved and seconded

That Bylaw No. 9102 be introduced and given first, second, and third readings to permit the City to enter into a Housing Agreement substantially in the form attached hereto, in accordance with the requirements of s. 905 of the Local Government Act, to secure the Affordable Housing Units required by the Development Permit Application DP 13-634111.

CARRIED

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

2.

Application by 0825215 B.C. Ltd. for Rezoning at 8231 Ryan Road from Two-Unit Dwellings (RD1) to Single Detached(RS2/B)
(File Ref. No. 12-8060-20-009214; RZ 14-665297) (REDMS No. 4500028)

Wayne Craig, Director, Development, briefed Committee on the proposed application, noting that the proposed application is consistent with the lot size policy in the area and that there are no trees on-site.

It was moved and seconded

That Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500, Amendment Bylaw 9214, for the rezoning of 8231 Ryan Road from “Two-Unit Dwellings (RD1)” to “Single Detached (RS2/B),” be introduced and given first reading.

CARRIED

3.

Application by Robert Kirk for Rezoning at 8395 Ruskin Place from Single Detached (RS1/E) to Single Detached(RS2/B)
(File Ref. No. 12-8060-20-009218; RZ 11-586707) (REDMS No. 3472510)

Mr. Craig briefed Committee on the proposed application, noting that the proposed application is consistent with the lot size policy in the area and that hazardous trees will be removed from the site.

Discussion ensued with regard to the orientation of the proposed house relative to the site. In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Craig noted that the subject site is relatively narrower compared to other sites however, the site remains consistent with an approved development north of the proposed application.

It was moved and seconded

That Bylaw No. 9218, for the rezoning of 8395 Ruskin Place from “Single Detached (RS1/E)” to “Single Detached (RS2/B),” be introduced and given first reading.

CARRIED

4.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(i)

City of New Westminster Official Community Plan

Terry Crowe, Manager, Policy Planning, spoke on the City of New Westminster’s Official Community Plan (OCP) preparation process and noted that staff attended a New Westminster OCP Open House on February 28, 2015. Mr. Crowe added that a draft OCP is anticipated in a year’s time and staff will monitor its progress.

(ii)

Chinese Bunkhouse

Mr. Crowe advised that the City has submitted an application to the Provincial Chinese Historic Recognition Project to recognize the Chinese Bunkhouse.

(iii)

Coach House and Granny Flats in the Burkeville area

Mr. Crowe commented on establishing a coach house and granny flat policy for the Burkeville area. He added that staff plan to first meet with the Sea Island Community Association (SICA) and then report to the Planning Committee in May 2015 with possible policy options.

Discussion ensued regarding the concerns expressed by Burkeville area residents related to (i) coach house lane access, (ii) lane dimension and configuration, (iii) traffic, (iv) drainage, (v) coach house architectural form and character, and (vi) retaining single family houses.

In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Crowe advised that staff will present possible solutions to address coach house and granny flat concerns when meeting with SICA.

Discussion ensued regarding the development process for coach houses in the Burkeville area and in reply to queries from Committee, Joe Erceg, General Manager, Planning and Development, noted that the City has guidelines in place for coach house development. He added that incentives are included in the development process for developers to retain the existing house when adding a coach house on-site.

In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Crowe noted that a comprehensive community consultation will take place following the initial consultation with SICA.

(iv)

Housing Concerns

An article from the March 3, 2015 edition of the Vancouver Sun titled “‘Hot’ Chinese money triggers alarm bells” was referenced (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 2) and discussion took place on the use of foreign funds to purchase property in Canada.

In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Erceg noted that the City cannot impose residential development restrictions through demolition requirements or impose higher development fees beyond those to recover staffing costs. Also, he advised that other levels of government may possess mechanisms to determine the legality of capital invested, which are not available to the City.

Discussion ensued with regard to (i) foreign buyers of local properties, (ii) property vacancies, (iii) the potential introduction of a vacancy fee for vacant properties, and (iv) options for a demolition tax.

In reply to further queries from Committee, Mr. Erceg noted that Law and Community Safety staff have advised that the City’s options, with regard to the imposition of demolition fees and charges, are limited.

Discussion ensued with respect to options for a possible fee on the demolition of dwellings that, whereby one may be of the opinion, has not reached its liveable life span.

Discussion then took place on recycling demolition material requirements and the use of funds received from demolition fees for affordable housing.

In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Erceg noted that introducing regulations related to the recycling of demolition materials can be examined; however changes related to demolition fees would need to be accomplished at the provincial level or by other legal means.

As a result of the discussion, the following referral was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That staff:

(1)

examine options to address concerns related to foreign capital used to purchase property in the city as noted in the article from the Vancouver Sun titled “‘Hot’ Chinese money triggers alarm bells,” dated March 3, 2015;

(2)

provide Council with data related to overseas buyers of property in the city;

(3)

examine other strategies to address concerns related to vacant properties; and

(4)

examine options to restructure demolition fees and regulate the recycling of demolition material;

and report back.

CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:21 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, March 3, 2015.

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Councillor Linda McPhail
Chair

Evangel Biason
Auxiliary Committee Clerk